Premier Inn axes 1,500 jobs as sales more than halve in lockdown

The owner of budget hotel chain Premier Inn, with venues across Norfolk, has confirmed redundancies but said they were far fewer than the anticipated job losses of 6,000.

The Whitbread group, which also owns chains including Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, said thankfully more workers than expected agreed to reduce their hours keeping redundancies down to 1,500.

It does not expect to make any more job cuts in the near future.

Whitbread saw like-for-like UK accommodation sales tumble 56pc in the 13 weeks to November 26, while food and drinks sales plunged by 54.4pc.

But it said accommodation sales slumped as much as 66.4pc in the five weeks to December 31 as restrictions tightened, with total UK sales down 73.4pc.

In the UK, around two-thirds of its hotels are open for essential workers.

Chief executive Alison Brittain called on the government to extend the business rates relief and temporary VAT reduction as she said the group was braced for restrictions to remain in place until after Easter.